"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

"Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works." - Ecclesiates 9:7 [KJV]   My soul, here is a sweet subject for thy morning thoughts. Art thou accepted in the Beloved? Hast thou accepted Jesus, and God accepted thee in Jesus? Well mayest thou then eat of the bread of common providences, and drink of the sweet of all sanctified mercies, for every thing is blessed in Jesus, and Jesus is blessing thee in every thing. Surely an accepted soul is a blessed soul, for he is blessed in his basket and in his store; blessed in his lying down, and blessed in his rising up; blessed in his going out, and blessed in his coming home; yea, blessed in time, and blessed to all eternity.     Yes,Thou blessed Source of all my blessedness, Thou precious Jesus, I will go my way, for Thou art my way; I will eat my bread with joy, for Thou art my bread of life; I will drink the wine which thou hast mingled for me, for Thy lo...

Weekend Gospel message to follow for All Hands   (18-20JUN21) Heads-Up --- Please find enclosed encouragement in   SO GREAT SALVATION   by the perfect and finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ in saving poor, needy and wretched sinners by His sovereign free grace - God's unmerited favor - from  our  sins and from Hell: “It is God Who Justifies” (Romans 8:33). Behold the eternal security of the weakest believer in Jesus. The act of justification, once passed under the great seal of the resurrection of Christ, God can never revoke without denying Himself. Here is our safety. Here is the ground of our dauntless challenge, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies.”  What can I need more? What more can I ask? If God, the God of spotless purity, the God of inflexible righteousness, justifies me, “who is he that condemns?” Sin may condemn, but it is God that justifies! The law may alarm, but it is God that justifie...

"He restoreth my soul."  - Psalm 23:3 [KJV] Yes, Lord, it is indeed Thou that bringest back the strayed sheep; for as no man ever quickened, so none can keep alive his own soul. It was indeed Thy promise, and most graciously dost Thou fulfil it! "As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep, so will I seek out My sheep, and bring again that which was driven away" Ezekiel 34:11-16. My soul, mark this trait of character in thy Jesus for thy morning meditation. It is well for thee that restoring work, reclaiming work, reviving work, all is with Jesus; begins in Him, and is carried on and completed by Him, and through His grace in thee. And it is well for thee, my soul, that though thou so often failest in all things towards thy Jesus, yet He never faileth in His love to thee in any thing. Sweet consideration! His love, and not thy deserts, become the standard for all His tenderness to His people.     And mark it down, my soul, in strong ch...

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." -Romans 1:16 [KJV] The gospel of Christ is not about an offer, it is about His one offering for sins forever. It is not about a proposition, but the fact that God set Him forth as the propitiation through faith in His blood. It is not about God giving all a chance, but about Him choosing a people in Christ before the world began. It is not about a way available, but about Christ, the Way, alone. It is not about God trying to do something, but about God triumphing on behalf of someone. It is not about man's will, but about the Lamb's worthiness. It is not about man's decision, but about Christ's death. It is not about infused goodness, but about imputed righteousness. It is not a matter of apologetics and debate, but of apostolic declarations. It is not about our good, but His grace. It is not building...

"He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom." - Isaiah 40:11 [KJV] My soul, mark in this sweet scripture how Jesus is described, in not only attending to all the various wants of His fold, but to the very method of imparting to their several wants in a way corresponding to His own character and their state. In the fold of Jesus, like the sheepfold among men, some are sheep and some are lambs: some of advanced age, and some of younger standing.     Well, where will Jesus put the lambs and the weaklings of His fold? Certainly, if there be one place in the heart of Jesus softer and more tender than another, there the lambs shall lay. And as Jesus Himself lay in the bosom of His Father, so the lambs of His flock shall lay in His bosom. Sweet thought to encourage thee, my soul, and all the followers of Christ! Jesus will not thrust out the lambs into the dangers of the wilderness, where the prowling beasts of prey are, nor expose them to over-driving,...

  How God gets us to Heaven: Part 3 by D.G. Miles McKee The next matter we want to consider in this short series on justification is, 4)  Christ’s resurrection from the dead. In Romans 4:25 we read that Christ was  “delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification .” Here’s the truth of the matter, we were in spiritual debt, but Christ paid our account in full (Hebrews 9:28).  Our condemnation caused Christ to willingly be executed in our place.  At Calvary, Christ was condemned, and we were acquitted ( justified ). Three days later, the Lord Jesus rose from the dead to demonstrate that Heaven was satisfied with the payment which was made for our sins.  Let’s say a man is in jail for an unpaid debt.  As long as the debt is in arrears the man stays in jail. But when the debt is paid, the man goes free. Similarly … Christ took our place and paid our bill. He redeemed us!  The prison of death could no longer hold Jesus. His resur...

"With the merciful Thou wilt shew Thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright; with the pure thou wilt shew Thyself pure." -Psalm 18:25-26 [KJV] From eternity, Christ became Surety of His people because He is the Merciful Man. He assumed our nature to bear our sin so that justice and mercy harmonize because He is the Upright Man. In order to be the last Adam, the only other man to begin life without sin that He might represent His people, He was born of a virgin declaring He is the Pure Man. No mercy could be given Christ while He suffered the wrath of divine justice in place of His people. But satisfaction being made, redemption accomplished, God the Father raised Him from the dead to His right hand along with all His people who He shall call to Himself. Therefore, in God the Father's work toward Christ His Son and in Christ's work making us merciful, upright and pure in Him, we see, "With the merciful Thou wilt shew Thyself merciful...